I LOVE WISCONSIN! :D

So i dont have much time but i got my visa! ill be arriving in the wisconsin milwaukee mission on monday! so thats very exciting! heavenly father definately has a sense odf humour since i got all unpacked and then my visa came haha. but im ever so grateful. its very bittersweet though. i thought i would be overjoyed to get my visa but ill be leaving a piece of my heart here in the canada toronto mission. im really excited to serve the Lord and the saints in wisconsin though! watch out america! here comes sister mansfield! im really going to miss all of the missioanies and memers here and especially president and sister clayton! their just wonderful! i love you all! remember to always look to christ for all things and dont fear the future is as bright as your faith in him! :D <3 im so grateful for the experiences that ive had here in the ctm :)

MIRACLES HAPPEN :D

friday wsa skills and interviews. i love the claytons so much. they are so inspired! i feel the spirit whenever they speak! they are so loving to each other too its adorable! in the canada toronto mission we teach repentance and baptize converts, we are a pmg mission and we are converted disciples of Jesus Christ. president just reminded me that we always have to stay on our foundation which is our testimony of Christ and all the spiritual experiences that weve ever had.

Well i dont have much time but here goes folks! on saturday before lunch we had planned to go contact a la referral named d. we were having trouble finding his appartment complex because it was b. we went around the back of the building and we started walking towards some other complexes that looked like a and maybe b. there was a black truck pulling in as we were walking over to the other buldings and i joked that it was d. well when the man got out of the car he asked us if we were lds and we said yes. we asked him if he was d and he said yes. we told him we were looking for him. he informed us that he didnt live there anymore and that he was just in the area visiting friends. we were able to get his phone number and address and setup a lesson with him. right time. right place. coincidence? nope! tender mercies ofcourse!

we got to go to our recent converts patriarchal blessing on sunday which was an amazing experience! the spirit was so strong and it was such a beautiful blessing. it really stregnthened my testimony. Heavenly Father really knows us all personally and by name. he has special blessings just waiting for us but we have to keep his commandments are always progress and become more christlike. we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father with divine potential. never forget that ever!

I love my Saviour Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the love that he has for me and each of his children. I'm grateful for his atonement that gives me the oppourtunity to improve each day.

I love you all! :D 

-Sister Mansfield <3

This picture is of the mighty hamster zone (hamilton zone) at skill and interviews! enjoy!

Hamilton Harvest :)

monday- we decided to go grocery shopping at walmart at 7 am. that was fun! we went to eat lunch the  pen centre with our recent convert emily. i love her! were doing a bunch of challenges in our zone to raise the bar and its called raise your hammers. their really fun! we went to visit our investigator jennifer. shes having a hard time giving up her coffee. we gave her the book of mormon stories so that it would be easier for her to understand. we had tacos with the burtons for dinner. they are wonderful! on the way to the burtons we found a new investigator named katerina. she actually works at the womens shelter that we volunteer at on wednesdays. its wonderful to see that Heavenly father really puts prepared people in our paths we just have to talk to them! we went to visit sister capuyan and she was skyping her family from the Philippines. her family even stayed on skype while we shared a message about the sabbath even though there not members which was really nice.

tuesday-  we went to visit a less active member named brother c. he lives far away! he owns and antique business so his house is filled with beautiful stuff. his wife is not a member but she sat in on the visit as we talked about his mission with him. we caught the tail end of helping with the bishop storehouse. their was so much food. it really streghtened my testimony of fast offerings to help those in need. hayat one of the members were working with is in the hospital so we went to visit her. we dropped her off a card. we were able to visit our recent convert jesse whos really hard to meet with. he goes to a really old boarding school so he gave us a mini tour after the lesson which was cool. 

wednesday- we helped with the cleaning at the womens shelter. chuck who were helping get the priesthood is smoking so much less now. he cut down ten cigarettes a day. we know heavenly father is helping him because hes doing his part and coming to church again. what a 360 hes done since i first met him. hes great! we completed a raise your hammer challenge by knocking 50 doors and we found some sweet potentials. 

thursday- we had district meeting! its awesome being with a group of missionaries. district meeting focused on commitments and teaching the Lord's way. we all wne to A & W for lunch after. we met with our investigator kristin and her daughter sierra. kristen actually stumbled into meet the mormons on netflix and watched and loved it. heavenly father is awesome! we taught her the plan of salvation and commited her to be baptized this month and she accepted! :) 

friday- we went to joey holtbys grandparents house for dinner. they are the sweetest!

saturday-  I had to soap box preach for one of the raise your hammer challenges! i dan jones it up! it was fun. their werent too many people downtown but we got a group coming from a cheer competition. it was sweet! we went with chuck who is now down 12 cigarettes a day! we sid alot of tracting and oyming downtown today. a lady nmaed wendy let us in because she loves family history. she was telling us that she was catholic but was really excited when we gave her a book of morn and then we were able to get her number. sister kwak i had korean food for dinner! a brother in our ward served in korea so he made us all food from his mission. yummy!

sunday- church was awesome today! brother stockwell sang opera and it was beautiful. brother macjanet gave a  great presentation on the sbabath day in fifth hour. im going to start prepping for the sabbath all week. you all should do the same! :) chuck stayed for all three hours of church and even th4e munch and mingle. life is good. god answers prayers. the spirit is everything! all my love! :D <3

A Day of Miracles Indeed!

monday- we went to niagara falls as a district again. it was so cold outside! and the mist fom the falls wasnt helping! but it is a really beautiful place and when im not here i know ill appreciate living this close to one of the seven wonders of the world:). we went to he macjanets for dinner. i love them! their hilarious! their house is so huge and nice too! sister macjanets cooking is heavenly!

tuesday- a day of miracles indeed! we taught a returning member sister h about prayer. she ahs a strong testomony of prayer but has limited understanding of the rest of the gospel so were working with her on that. we went to visit a less active family the a family. they dont make it to church often because they attend their kids sporting activities. it makes me sad when people dont make church a priority. our recent convert j actually answered us today. he seems to feel uncomfortable with sister missionaries so he usually ignores us. but this week he responded and it was indeed a tender mercy. a potential named kristin who we were supposed to have a lesson with had to go to work so she left us a note of her door. it was so nice of her to do that. so we wrote her back  a note with our next appointment time. we taught some ysa potentials named avi and davis. they had so many questions that we basically taught them every lesson in one sitting. it was really fun! we even got avi who is jewish to sya the closing prayer! our recent convert emily treated us to some delicious cashew chicken and some raspberry cupcakes for dinner. we love her! i found out that s one of our returning members speaks french so i can practice yay! a day of tender mercies indeed! 

Wednesday- today was the worldwide missionary broadcast. it was so good! elder bednar, oaks and anderson talked. what really stuck out to me was that we are to be vessels of the spirit so that the holy ghost can teach people and touch their hearts through us. 

thursday- we met and taught kristin and her daughter sierra and they just accepted everything witout any problems. she said that we can come back and visit them whenever we want. 

friday- we had district meeting and went over what we learned during the broadcast. it was in hamilton. then we went to a mall in hamilton and ate some lunch together. its so nice being around other missionaries!  we went on exchanged with the stls! sister cook and i went to hamilton mountain east with sister price! shes a ginger yay! i love it! 

saturday- we met with george whos getiing baptized next week in hamiltona ndhes such a quiet hmbke guy and hes so excited!

sunday- the sabbath day is so great! i got alot of questions answered during the meetings.president clayton called us and gave us counsle on how we can plan our lessongs around commitments to help those we teach with their concerns. oh and chuck our returning member came to church after two months of working with him wooohooo! life is good! i love it! and i love al lof you! :D <3 

sister mansfield

So I Met Donnie Osmond Sunday

well its been an awesome week here in st. cats! we went

monday - zone sports for the last day of the transfer woohoo! our recent convert em came with us and loved it! sister bell spoiled sister cook and i wish some subways. yumyum! we always do fhe on tranfer mondays with the rigbys and the currys. we played mafia and i actually won! reminded me off all those werewolf games in ysa! goodtimes! 

tuesday- we drove to bodacious brampton zone for transfers. it felt nice to be in my old stomping grounds. sister monnie is so fun! shes actually bestfriends with the ap in the wisonsin milwaukee mission elder larsen. i actually met him during the twenty four hours that i spent in that mission. i love Heavenly Father's sense of humour! small world! sister monnie is from a town called greschan in oregon. sister cook was sliding all over the place getting used to driving in canadian snow haha. we lived though! 

wednesday-we went to the womens shelter that we volunteer at in the kitchen. we had dinner with the drowmeys who are an older couple from england and their so cute! 

thursday- we finally were able to visit with our investigator jen. shes progressing really slowly but she is progressing! we went to visit the burtons and brother burton showed us some of his old band stuff from the 80s. it was cool to see him and brother lipiec back in the day. their so cool! 

friday- district meeting was too legit to quit! we focused on teaching in the lords way. President Clayton received inspiration that we should teach shorter lessons so that the spirit can be there the whole time. weve really seen lots of blessings as weve applied his counsel. hes so inspired! i love him! we watched the first video of the twelve step program with our retunrning member chuck. and he promised us that hed be at church this sunday! and he never makes promises he wont keep. norma the lady who is in charge of the kitchen at the womens shelter invited us over for dinner. she asked alot of awesome questions about missions and stuff. hopefully she becomes a new investigator! and her families awesome too! we want them all to join us! 

saturday- we found three new investigators today after tracting near referrals. one actually lived where a member used to live again. we really do see miracels as we hearken and apply the counsel that president Clayton gives us. another miracle! a ls member named jesse actually let us visit him. hes super hard to reach because he does shift work. and usually doenst answer calls or the door but he invited us right in when we dropped by!

sunday- so donnie osmand and his friend jerry williams were at church today. that was both awesome and random! apparently he did a show in niagara falls or something! i aint complaining! we went over and chatted with him a bit. i was a little stractruck i cant lie. he was super sweet though. he snuck out after sacrament but a couple people still got pictures. we were relieve that jen accepted the wow without any issues! repentance is the best. i would like to challenge everyone yto take a question into every church meeting. i promise you church will become a revelatory experience! and it will help you pay attention! the book or mormon and humility are the keys to being a successful missionary. i love you all! :D <3

EXPECT THE MIRACLE

This week was a week full of miracles! I will be staying in St. Catharines with Sister Cook and Sister Monee will be joining us! sister bell will be heading off to Mississauga north to be a sister training leader! i cant believe that my twelve weeks of training is over! looks like i have to grow up now! president clayton said that my visa is at the top of the priority list so hopefully next transfer ill be in wisonsin where i hear its freezing. so keep those visa prayers coming please! we were visiting a less active family who was a referral from the ward. the member didnt live in that house anymore but the lasy who did live there let us use her washroom. we chatted with s and she warmed up to us and let us setup a return appointment. we tuahgt her the restoration when we came back and the spirit was so strong she cried the whole time. when we asked her to come back she said no but that she would come to church. she did! after she felt the spirit at church she let us setup a return appointment. the miracles happenyou just have to expect them! its so much easier to see the lords hand in all things and to recognize his spirit as we forget ourselves and focus on others. i love you all! xoxo :D

The True Meaning of Christmas :)

Christmas week was a good week. The Lord really hastens his work during the holiday. A family in the ward had us deliver a christmas meal to another family in the ward because they wanted to remain anonymous. That family is so charitable. Our investigator Jen was so much happier this week. I know its because she had been consistently reading from the book or mormon and praying daily. Going to church, praying and reading the scriptures (CPR) are the keys to happiness in life! Brother Wright bought us this big box of fish and chips from a restaurant in St. Davids and it was so delicious! We had dinner at the Burtons house another night and Brother Burton was pet sitting skinnypigs! Look them up! A return missionary who served here is living with a Sister in the ward and they had us over for lunch. They made us some Peruvian potato pie i think its called. that was cool! Brother Jewer even gifted us three cartons of egg nog! We helped sister Stockwells neighbour in St. Davids hand out some Niagara Times papers before district meeting. It was really fun! For Christmas eve dinner the Jones family has us over for homemade perogies and turkey. It was so delicious! Bishop and sister jones are hilarious and their kids are adorable! Skyping my family on Christmas was amazing! It was so nice to see everyones faces! We had pancakes, fruit and ltos of bacon for breakfast with Loretta. Yummy! We had dinner with the Curry's! I just really love eating! Then Brother Wright took us to Niagara falls to see the falls lit up at night at the christmas lights. the members all spoiled us this christmas with gifts! I felt both super loved and blessed. As much as i think the members love us. its what we stand for, give up and share with people that they love. it was ncie to have a quiet christmas focused on the saviours birth and how we can help other people discover the true joy of his gospel. i love you all! :D <3

Niagara Falls!

Monday - Some of our zone went to Niagara Falls on preparation day. It was us plus the Stoneycreek elders (Beddes and Ditty), the China elders (Jenkins and Lau), the St. David elders (Cragun and Vargas) and the zone leaders from Hamilton (Butler and Smith). We walked on the boardwalk of the falls and walked around the little town. Its like a little theme park! It was so cool and fun. After we took some pictures near the falls we went to Smokes Poutinerie which is Elder Vargas fave! Everyone on the mish here loves Smokes! It wasnt as ogod as home but the bacon cheeseburger was still pretty good! We were finally able to meet with our new convert for the first time since ive been here. Lets just call her Pa. Shes super sweet! She loves the Book of Mormon and shes coming to do baptisms in the temple with us on January 9th. Im so excited! Her daughter Ny also loves coming to church!

Tues - We met with one of our I's named Cor. Shes still struggling with understanding how the Book of Mormon and Bible are diferrent but go together. But we brought our den momma Melissa with us and she testified about how the Book of Mormon can help us each individually with our own personal struggles in life. Ive really seen that to be true especially on the mission when theres always so many things to improve. I really love the book of mormon! We visited with a member named Stella whos in her 90s and she have us some souvenirs spoons to remember our time in St Cats. Shes sweet! We went to dinner at the burtons. Brother Burton used to be in a band in the 80s and she showed us the flashy coat that he used to wear. Theres also another brother in the ward who was in the band with him and so theyve been friends for like 50s years. They both had some really inspiring conversion stories to tel.

Wed - We went to teach jen about faith. She does not have much of a religious background so we felt like we had to start from the beginning with her and do one principle at a time. As missionaries we are to help people increase their faith in the Saviour and so thats what were trying to do with her!

Thurs - We went to visit with a less active member named C at a members home. Weve taught him everything but he cant seem to find the motivation to come to church and to stop smoking. I felt inspired to do the twelve step program with him. Its the only thing that we havent tried so far. The first step is honesty and he finished that next week. Bro C said that it really helped him realize that he had an addiciton and that most of all he needed to be honest with himself. 

Fri - Exchanges! Sister Droge came here and Sister Bell went to Hamilton with sister Reeves. So me and sister Cook had to attempt to figure out the area for ourselves! We taught eight lessons and it was great! One of our less actives Hay referred her friend to us at the end of her lesson. She actually came with us to her neighbours house and she let us in and we taught her the restoration. Exchange miracles! Sister Droge is froem Germany random fact. 

Sat - We were able to contact a member who moved her from the canada montreal mission and set up a lesson with her im so pumped! 

Sun - We met with Brother j and he always feeds us delicious baked goods! We met with a returning member named paula who is so awesome! she hasnt been smoking for like a week and has no cravings because she told heavenly father that if he takes the cravings away shell quit. 

I love being a missionary! And i love you all! p.s. please pray for visa! :D <3

sister bell has short hair and shes from ogden! sister cook is from logan! love them!

Raise the Hammer!

monday-we had dinner with the stockwells. they are so cute! poor brother stockwell wasnt feeling well so i gave him some suggestions on what he could take. keep him in your prayers please!

tuesday-we met with our investigator d at the library. he accepted to be baptized on january 8th and were so pumped! we had dinner with joey holtbys grandparents so that was a fun experience! i see his parents every sunday too and i signed his christmas card haha he will have no idea! 

wed- zone conference was the best! president and sister clayton had us sing the twelve days of christmas and had us all make up an action to go with it. then we sang hymns and president takes his conducting very seriously! i love the claytons! as missionaries we dont have much to give during christmas time in terms of material things. but what we can give christ is our will. we must turn it over to him and develop his attributes. we had a great coordination meeting! our ward mission leader read a letter to my neighbour and was really inspired to make some great changes in the ward to help with the work. yay! 

thurs-today was a good day! lots of good lessons! sister saul gave us lots of cookies and ice cream. im gonna roll out of this are when i leave :).

fri- we met with two of our investigators jen and cor. jen has commited to be batized january 9th. cor has a great desire to really come to know that the book of mormon is true. she loves studying it and has many questions yay! 

sat- we met with d. hes been reading the book of mormon yay!and he came out to church and stayed all three hours!

sun-the sabbath is a delight! i gave a talk about the atonement and the gospel of jesus christ. i was pretty calm when giving the talk so prayer works! we went to the bishops for supper and it was full of laughs!

i love you all :D <3

St Catharines Ontario! :D <3

monday- my last pday with the bodacious brampton zone so sad! we went to eat at the mandarin buffet which was so fun and yummy ofcourse! then sister chelson and i had dinner at the shermans to bid them farewell. its funny because they were the first members that we met with when we opened the area so it was bittersweet.  then we dropped by the sousa family and sister h to say our goodbyes. brampton its been a great run!

tuesday- hello st catharines! so guess what!? im a tripanionship! so fun! its like a slumber party all the time! my companions are sister bell who is my sister on the mission and sister cook who is my niece. weird fmaily dynamic lol. sister cook and i are both finishing up training. so first we met with a retuning member sister p and taught the law of chastity. that went well. shes so straightforward its fun! then we met with a recent convert named sister e. shes adorable! and has desired to serve a mission! yay! then we street contacted downtown with the christmas initiative. check out the video on www.christmas.mormon.org its so good! then we prepared a misison prep lesson for the young women. then there was a relief society christmas dinner so i got to know some of the sisters. they put on a play about the women in christs life. it was nice. i met ericas friend rachel! small world! 

wed- we volunteerd in a womens shelter making them meals for a couple of hours. it felt good. i realized that its really hard to cut a cabbage! exercise! the women there are really kindred spirits. we actually ate lunch with them after and found a new investigator there! her name is c. she wants to discover why a saviour was born yay! then we spent some more time downtown contacting people. the kings had us over for dinner and we had some fietas yum! then we role played the restoration with the young women. some of them were super into it! i see some future sister missionaries! 

thurs- we taught an invesigator named d at the library. we taught him the restoration and he took everything super well. he really wants to find a good church with nice people because hes joined many previously. then we met with a returning member sister c. shes wonderful! she reads and prays often but just cant seem to make it to church because she has some anxiety issues so were working with her. we taught her about the plan of salvation. she needed that because she was thinking of and missing her parents during this christmas season. im so grateful for the plan of salvation. then we met with the investigator that we found in the womens shelter c. we shared the christmas video with her and she loved it! now shes anxious to learn more about our church! the we went to the chungs house and had the children learn of the restoration with us. sister chung made us some delicious loaf! 

fri- we met our district today! its alot smaller than my last one but there a fun bunch! we learned about how to better use the christmas initiative so that was fun! then we had some lessons with members and an investigator named j. shes super cute! we read enos 1 with her and talked about it with her! she has a baptismal date for december 19th! :) sowe went offroading by accident in the countyr on the way to the mencias house oops! :)

sat- we met with a returning member named c at the drowmeys house. we shared the christmas video and talked about the atonement. we went to visit sister p a returning memebr snd she shared her conversion story with us. 

sun- stake conference! elder schwitzer of the seventy talked about the book of mormon mixed with history and it was really awesome! the toronto temple presidency also talked about eternal marriage yay!  then we had lunch with loretta and her family and shared the christmas video. such a sweet spirit comes with that video! we also brought a referral a book of mormon in the hospital that felt good. then we had dinner with the macjanets, they live in a mansion! but yeah it was nice to get to know them and watch the a saviopur is born video with them.congrats marci and di on your calls thats so exciting! i love you all and discover why #asaviourisborn on www.christmas.mormon.org ! :D <3

Sister Mansfield in Toronto

mon- today we had dinner at a members home, the m family. it was so great! their grandchildren were there as well and there so adorable! i was also able to help one of the grandchildren with his french homework so that felt good. then we taught our returning member sister h about the importance of following the prophets. they are the anchors to eternal truth. and general conference is such a special oppourtunity to hear from our living apostles and prophets. we really are truly blessed by following their counsel. i hope everyone has been ponderizing if not repent and sin no more haha courtesy of my companion sister chelson!

tues- we dropped by one of our members homes the o family to share a short mesage about faith. we also sang her sick husband a song and it really lifted his spirit. then we went to visit a part member family the w family and we taught the husband about the restoration. and the wife bore a sweet testimony about how trials are for growth. then we had dinner at the ferrys house. sister ferrys maiden name is senechal and her family still lives in quebec so cool! we all talked around the dinner table about the different culturesd around quebec. it was nice! felt like home! then we taught another returning member family callld the m family. they are quite chatty but we were able to teach then two principles about the restoration and they are really trying to read and pray as a family.

wed- we went to visit a member who is coming back to church. she really loves the book of mormon and its great to see her testimony grow from reading and prayer and the other basics everytime we go and visit her. we had dinner with sister cliffe. shes so adorable! she made so many different types of fish since shes from the maritimes yum! we taught sister h about family history to get her pumped to go to the temple to do baptisms!

thurs- we had a six month follow up with all the new missionaries and then we got to go do a session in the toronto temple it was amazingg!! it was just us and president and sister clayton in the session and the spirit was super strong! i got an answer to a question that was weighing heavy on my mind so im grateful for that! then sister chelson and i splurged on a bit of timmies! yummy and oh so canadian!

fri- we had a zone council which followed up on what elder perkins taught us about last week. its good to have a reminder about what we learned.  as missionaries we have special power and authority from on high to find those prepared people who are ready to accept the gospel. oh what a great calling! we went on exhanges again with the sister training leaders. i was with sister jolie. it was cool because i led most of the lessons since i was more familiar with the lessons. we helped sister c with her reading and we read a story out of the bible. we had dinner with the hodders and alll the children are just the sweetest! brother hodder is from nova scotia which is awesome! then we taught with some potential returning members the g family. sister g gave us a whole banana bread it was quite delicious! we werent able to get the children to sit in on the lesson but we taught the restoration. we were able to really get the parents thinking and i seen that light of testimony come back into their eyes it was sweet! 

sat- today was a day of weekly revelation woohoo! 

sun- the sabbath day! what a delight! we had dinner with the ibanez family. it was so yummy! there the sweetest! then we watched the #ASaviourisborn video. its so good! everyone please watch it and share it! and make sure you invite them to discover why:). love you all! 

p.s. im getting transfered! off to st catharines i go! hi ho hi ho hi ho! :D

im terrible with pics so sorry!

Elder Anthony D. Perkins of the Seventy Woohoo

monday- we spent pday shopping with hermana fife and hermana tyler! well window shopping that is! theres so many fun ugly christmas sweaters its great! we had dinner with the stake president goobie of the brampton stake so that was lovely!

tues- we went to help a member named Sister Palmer with some service. She has three adorable kids so shes always got her hands full. we were really grateful to lend her a hand shes awesome! we met with some returning members the M family. we taught them about prayer and commited them to pray as a family daily and to read a verse of scripture together daily. Its super important to do those basics together as a family so that everyone can be spiritually strong. then we taught the part member d family. its a part member family. i taught the restoration in french! it was hard but it was awesome! i definately was blessed with the gift of tongues and i think sister d definately felt the spirit because she seemed to understand things better. its a bit tough because sister chelson doesnt understand french but at least she felt the spirit! 

wed- we went to visit a returning member named sister t. shes currently living with her boyfriend and isnt sure if the church is true so we retaught her the restoration. hopefully she keeps the commitements we gave her to pray and read the book of mormon because that is the only way for her to find out if the things that we teach her and the book of mormon are true.

thurs- elder perkins of the seventy came to instruct us. i really like what he taught about being bold. we have to teach people with love, charity, trusting in Christ, we have to increase our faith and know that we are authorized representatives of Jesus Christ and so we can teach with power and authority. He also said to use preach my gospel in everything! It is an inspired book!

sunday- so the temple dedication was like amazing! it was great to see all the familiar faces of those whom i love! sister mella got to shake elder eyrings hand so jealous! im really grateful for temples! we are truly blessed to have one so close to home! i really felt the spirit and alot of gratitude during the dedication. I hope we all make temple worship a priority in our loves! I love you all! :D<3

sister mansfield's adventure continues

monday- we went bowling as a zone! it was so spicy! i loe the bodacious brampton zone! i got a couple strikes and the rest gutter balls yay! but we do this thing as a zone whenever someone strikes we do an x and scream strike its pretty funny! we met a sister in our ward who fed us subways. she has a great family with a son who served in romania and a daughter at byu.

tuesday- we had an interesting meeting with a potential named hasan that we contacted on a bus. he was having marriage troubles. we tried to teach him the restoration but he wouldnt listen. he was more trying to get the answers he wanted and teach us. so ma and my companion whom i loev sister chelson just bore our testimonies about the saviour and his atonement and were at peace when we left the lesson. we had a lesson with sister hackner about how we can more fully feel gods love in our life through prayer and and church and scripture study. the basics are so important! 

wednesday- its so cold outside! and were in a car share! buses dont worka s well as the stm here in the brampton suburbs but at least we get to talk to lots of people! we visited with the walton family. there baby girl is due in like two weeks its so exciting! we taught brother walton a bit about the restoration and he was open so thats always nice. we dropped by a investigators house the desirs to say hello. sister desir is so sweet.  the relief society president sister king fed us diinner. steph i ate the quiche! it was so good! and we just discussed the needs of some sisters that we were going to visit. 

thursday- we met with the elder monson and elder bradford today to coordiante the work in the heartlake ward so that should really help the work move forward. we visited with the mcdonald family and taught them of the importance of the sabbath day. they bore testimony of the sacrament and came to church sunday yay!

friday- we visited with sister macpherson. her undderstanding of the gospel is limited because she has a disability but her taught her about the plan of salvation. she has the desire to do the work for her family and especially her son in the temple so it was nice to see that we helped increase her knowledge of the great plan of happiness. i taught a whole lesson by myself in french to sister desir! it was tough but i definately had the gift of tongues! it was great to know that i could help ease her concerns in a language she understood so im grateful to be able to help her in that way. we taught sister hackner about prayer. she taught me that sincere prayers are really the ones that get anwsers so dont let satan put those doubts in your mind! 

saturday- my first exchange with the brampton sister training leaders! we ere in there are so brampton east. sister jolie! we found a new investigator because i felt like we should talk to this guy at a bus stop. so maybe im actually starting to figure out how the spirit works yay! we helped a member named mon clean out her fridge and oven. she was so grateful. we read the book of mormon with bro smith to help him have strength to overcome his smoking. we went and taught about the spirit world to sister purchase to help her get excited to go to the temple to do family history. i love the temple! i get to see the toronto one almost daily and im so grateful!

sunday- church is such a great thing! its the most relaxing day as a missionary. its my favourite to just get to know members they are so loving and i love them! i helped the elders investgator thomas during sunday school cause he speaks french. im grateful that hevenly father isnt lettign me loose my french. the sousas fed us dinner again. i love that family so much. they also give us treats every sunday. im so grateful for this gospel! it brigns so much comfort to my soul to know why im here and where im going. sorry im terrible with sending pics! i love you all!

-sister mansfield :)<3

Bodacious Brampton Zone

mon-preparation day is always the greatest in our zone. our zone had a fiesta with papoosas, dulche leches and nachos. it was delicious! then i watched the zone play kill ball. they really love that game! we had a lesson with a member family the ferry's. the moms from quebec! her name is nathalie senechal and she said that some of her siblings are married the lallements. small world!

tues- we had a good lesson with returning member sis h. we taught her about the atonement and tried to help her feel more of god's love in her life. shes being doing really great with her scripture study and prayer and now we just have to get her to church each week. shes had a hard life so shes having a bit of trouble with being mad at god. we taught her about how trials are for us to learn and grow and that if we can bear our afflictions with patience the lord will  make our burdens like and we shall gain eternal life. the sousa member family made us delicious alfredo for dinner. there so sweet they give us goodies bags every sunday at church. love them!

wed- theres a thing called whopper wednesday can you believe it! it costs like 6 dollars for a trio its the greatest thing! we took some whopper lunch to a members home the w's and ate with them. they both have disabilities and there expecting a baby. but they are still so positive and were both inspirations to me. we helped the relief society president sister king clear out her garden which was fun. the palmer family had us for dinner and they have three adorable little ones.we helped sister palmer tidy up and then she fed us some pork chops yum! tonight me and sister chelson contacted a whole bus stop full of people it was so exciting! i got like an adrenaline rush it was great!

thurs-we met with a returning member named sis w and had a second lunch which was carribean food so my tummy was real happy. we went to have a short lesson with the vicente member family and they know the feths from montreal.it brings me alot of peace having all these connections to home. the m family agreed to let us help them to prepare to go back to the temple to partake of those blessings. we got to go to a young womens activity which was fun. we are embroidering our white handkerchiefs for the montreal temple dedication. i have my ticket already. im so grateful to be able to be in toronto right now to be able to participate. the lords hand is in the details of our lives folks! 

fri- zone conference is the bomb dot com! the spirit was so strong! we learned about the importance of follow up. its a way to show that we love and care about those we teach. it waas also impressed upon me that we can have enough faith to move mountains! we are so blessed to be able to represent the saviour and that attitude a positive one makes the world of a difference. 

sat- we met with sister m shes a member. shes so sweet. she had trouble understanding because of  a learning disability but so is so willing to learn and listen. our ward had a chili cookoff which was a great oppourtunity to meet more members. the food was so good! yes i know i talk loads about food! and it was nice to see some less actives come and have fun being involved in the dancing and other activities.

sun-church was great! i really enjoyed the relief society lesson about self reliance and about how we should share our talents. the martinez family gave us a wonderful dinner to take home. im grateful for the simple truths of the restored gospel. there is no other way to return back to our father in heaven and our saviour. i love you all!

looky who! :)

First Pday in the Field!

 so my first pday in the field yay! so for those who dont know im currently serving on the canada toronto mission in the brampton stake in the heart lake ward. our area is heart lake north. im waiting for my visa before going to wisconsin.

monday- my first pday in the field yay! we went out to eat at five guys for lunch with the sister training leaders sister julian and jolie. so yummy! the wait family has us over for a spaghetti dinner it was so yummy! brother wait is actually from val d or so it was nice to be with a fellow quebecer. 

tuesday- we did service this morning for a garden owned by the salvation army. it was freezing! but we were basically cleaning out the garden and pulling out the crops and stuff. its always fun to be with the whole zone though. and after the fact it always feel good to give service so im grateful. a memebr family named the beamers  had us over for a greenie dinner! all the food was green and so yummy! the coolest thing ever! 

wednesday- today was skills and interviews with the zone and president clayton. i learned that missions are all about forgetting yourself and going to work. and things only work out when you do them the lords way. there is no other way. as missioanries we have to opne our mouths or else were giving satan power over us because thats what he wants. we had dinner at the ludlow families house and they have so much candy it was yummy! we tried to drop off a bible to a kid named tristan who was referred from salt lake but his mom wouldnt let us see him so that was really sad because he was interested in the church\

thursday- we had lunch at the stapletons house and shes the cutest lady ever. her and her husband are the oldest memebers in the ward and she loves when we sing with her. they ahve such a sweet spirit in their home. we also taughta short lesson to the goobie family and their cute children. they have a newborn and hes just so cute! we also had a short lesson with sister mcpherson. we also taught an investigator named dannie at dairy queen and it was so cold. but it was the first time i actually taught the whole restoration lesson and it went fairly well and he accepted our invitation to come to church. we had dinner at sis bourgeois house. it was stuffed potatoes and broccoli and cheese on the potatoes so good! i love broccoli so much! then we went to visit the garcia family who are so quiet but so cute!

friday- lunch with sister stapleton and more singing! we met with the walton family to get to know them. they are a young family with a baby on the way and super fun! the spice family had us over and we talked about family history. sister spice is from france and her husband served in france so that was nice. we taught the desir family about eternal families. i explained the book of mormon to the wife who is investigating the church because she is from haiti. it was sweet! its always that last door that you tract into that has the awesome prepared people!

saturday- we visited a member sister cliffe with a relief society counselor names sis ludow. sis clifee actually served some of her mission in montreal way back when so cool!

sunday- fast and testiomny is always so uplifting! our ward mission leaders mom in law sandra came to church two times now and we hopefully will start teaching her next week. she has so much faith and you can tell by how she anwsers questions and with the conviction in what she says.

god really is in the details of our lives. and im grateful for all his tender mercies.

greenie dinne

Canada Toronto Mission

So Monday was my last day in the MTC and boy was it a hard one! I really loved my district so much and my zone too. Its crazy how much love I developed for them even though I just met them but ive come to know that its charity, the pure love of christ that i felt for them which is a gift of the spirit. For out last district meeting we had a testimony meeting. We all expressed our love for each other ofcourse but we also shared how we knew that we were all called to our specific misisons for a reason and that their were people being prepared for us to teach. Almost the whole district (Sisters Smeltzer, Christensen, Naughton, Elders Watts, Lebaron, Rudd, and Hopkins) were all in pjs except for me and elder Mangus. it was pretty funny because elder watts was dressed in like sweats with a hat that said easy on it and he was pretending to dance and rap which was hilarious.

tuesday was traveling day to our missions! we got up at like three am and took the train and bus to the salt lake airport together as a zone. then for the final goodbyes ah so much tears! and off i was to wisconsin with most of the missionaries from my district (elder manassee, elder garner, elder burdsall, elder anderson, sister christensen, sister naughton) and my companion and i. When we got to Wisconsin President Cutler said that I wasnt supposed to be there yet because there was no word on my visa lol. So we spend the rest of the day at a church building getting all kinds of training on cars, money, the mission vision and stuff like that. Then sister cutler made a great meal and then we had a testimony meeting. I got a blessings from Elder Manassee with Elder Talbot and Elder Burdsall assisting and that brought me great comfort. The priesthood is a great thing! Then off I went to a hotel with my companion and two other sisters in the mission for the night.

wednesday i caught my flight to toronto at about six am. When i arrived in toronto i was greeted by president and sister clayton who are super sweet. We went to the mission office where i met my trainer sister chelson. shes from saint anthony in idaho. shes 19. shes super obedient! but um i got more training and then we went to walmart for some food. it take some getting used to everyone staring at your badge but it feels good. our appartment is actually really nice we live in the basement of a house. im getting used to not being so ocd cause theres not much time! im actually opening and whitewashing an area called heartlake north of the heartlake ward. our ward meets right beside the toronto temple so be jealous its so amazing!

thurs- contacting people on the streets is way harder than i thought. forget what i said about bold april haha shes in hiding somewhere. but i made some goals and im looking forward to coming out of my shell. district meeting was fun we role played and i was able to help the chinacougsy spanish sisters receive some revelation for their investigators. our district leaders are elder johnson and elder beddes they check up on us often. elder johnson is os enthusiastic i love it! we have no area book so we just started called the ward list and had a lesson with the s family who are super sweet.

fri- we met the ward mission leader brother juarez who is super cool. hes a young married adult so hes got spunk! we got some less active memebrs from the elders who would work better with sisters. its been a long time since sisters have been in the ward so all the members a super excited! we met with a sister h who is coming back to church. she has some addiction problems to overcome but she has such a huge desire to come back into the fold. we taught the gospel of jesus christ with the elders.

sat-we met with the j family , and the bishop from the ward who gave us lots of insight on the member sof t`he ward. theres lots of work to do! we taught a sister who is coming back to church sister w and she had such a sweet spirit and testimony and shes working so hard to come back its a delight to watch. i still suck at sharing the gospel ton the streets i can strike up convo fine its just making that connection that im working on.

sun- church was great! the ward is great! the s family gave us treats and they dont even know us! i got called up randomly to bear my testimony that was fun welcome to mission life lol! we met with as many of the members as we could. it was a full day of meetings. but um we watched a great video by elder hooland about not giving up! the lord is on our side always! and the sabbath day really is a day of rest from our worldly cares and its a day to devote to the saviour and remember him. I love this gospel and im so grateful for the atoning sacrifice of my saviour. I will do my best to represent him. Lots of love!

John 14:6

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.